Nobody's Heartless Animal Sanctuary
by sparklybookwyrm
Summary: Sora and Roxas move to a new town and get jobs at an animal sanctuary. But not everything is as it seems at Nobody's Heartless Animal Saunctuary.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts belongs to Square Enix and Disney

* * *

Sora yawned as the alarm clock smashed into the wall.

"Mom'll be mad if she has to buy another one Rox." He mumbled sleepily. His twin Roxas growled out an unintelligible response.

Sora stretched and hopped out of bed. "I get first shower!" He yelled before making a beeline for the bathroom. He took a quick shower and brushed his teeth before heading downstairs to get some breakfast. By the time Roxas came down Sora had dug out the classifieds and was looking through summer jobs.

"Anything good?" Roxas asked while making pop tarts. The twins had decided to try and get jobs so their mother didn't have to worry so much about them. They had recently moved and money was tight.

Sora held up the page, covered in red circles. Roxas gave him a look of doom. "Sora you circled every job in here."

"So? We really need a job, does it matter what we do?"

"Yes it matters!" Roxas screeched. "Ugh whatever just hand that over." He snatched the paper and read over the listings as he munched on his pop tarts. "Hey this sounds cool. An animal rescue shelter needs some assistants. It says no experience required."

"Doesn't that one sound so cool?!" Sora chirped, bouncing in his seat. "Let's go to that place first!" He cried, jumping up and grabbing his skateboard and helmet.

"Let me eat first would ya!" Roxas yelled, racing to get his stuff together.

* * *

"Hey Rox I think I found it!" The twins had spent almost three hours trying to find the out of the way shelter. The Nobody's Heartless Animal Sanctuary was on the edge of a forest bordering the town. It was fairly nondescript, surrounded by hedges and a wrought iron fence.

"This place is creepy." Roxas bit out.

"So do you not want to go in?" Sora asked. He knew Roxas could be bitchy in new places since he got nervous around strangers. Roxas shook his head and marched through the gate, Sora following behind. They walked into the building, entering a small, clean waiting area. Behind a counter was a small black haired girl who was scribbling something on a clipboard. She looked up and smiled at them.

"Hi there! Welcome to Nobody's Heartless Animal Sanctuary! How can I help you?" She asked cheerfully.

"Hi, I'm Sora and this is Roxas. We saw an ad in the paper about jobs here?" Sora replied.

The girl nodded. "Okay! Saix will want to see you both, just a minute let me get him." She went around to a door marked as Employees Only. She opened it slightly and called though the crack, "Hey Saix! There are two boys here wanting a job." She closed the door and turned back to the boys. "I'm Xion by the way. Are you guys new in town?"

"Yeah, just moved in a few days ago. We're from Twilight Town originally." Sora said, falling into a conversation easily.

"Oh wow, you guys are a long way from home then aren't you?"

Before Sora could answer the Employees Only door opened and a tall, blue haired man walked out. He looked grumpy and had bags under his eyes. "You two want to work here? It isn't all playing with animals you know. We take in a lot of injured animals, some of them wild."

"Well duh. We know it's gonna be a lot of feeding and cleaning up after them. We have a cat and a dog ourselves, and we know how to take care of them." Roxas answered.

"And we're willing to learn what we don't know!" Sora cut in quickly.

Saix nodded and pulled two applications out from behind the counter. "Here. Fill these out and I'll let you know by the end of the week if you have the job." He told them before returning to through the Employees Only door.

"You can fill them out in here. I'll be right here if you need anything." Xion offered.

After turning in the completed applications the boys left the building. Halfway to the gate Sora stopped dead in his tracks. "Huh? Did you see that Roxas?"

"See what? Come on Sora I want to get some ice cream before we have to head home." Roxas whined, standing at the gate.

"There was something there. It was silvery."

"You're just imagining things Sora. Come on." Roxas started off down the road leaving his brother to scramble after him.

"Think that one saw you?" A voice asked once they were gone.

"Of course not. Better get back before Saix catches us." Another voice answered.

"Whatever you say."


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Thanks everyone for the reviews and faves and follows! I'm gonna try to update this every Thursday and I have up to seven chapters planned. Also, I hope this chapter doesn't sound too- off. I wasn't really sure what someone would do at an animal shelter since I've never worked at one myself, so I struggled a bit with the first half of this chapter. Hopefully you'll enjoy this!

* * *

Three days later Sora and Roxas got the call letting them know they had gotten the job at the sanctuary. They went in for their first day (only getting lost once this time).

Xion walked past with a grumpy cat whose leg was wrapped in a cast. "Hi guys! Really busy today. Saix is waiting in the kennels for you!" She chirped.

"I wonder if she's always that happy?" Roxas mused as they went through the door Xion pointed to.

"More or less." Saix responded, startling both boys. "This is the kennel for the animals that are up for adoption. They need to be fed and have their bedding changed. Think you can handle that?" The boys nodded. "Good. One of you take the dogs and the other take the cats. Food amounts and any special instructions are on the clipboards." He clipped out, pointing to the tray with the foods and clipboards.

"Rock Paper Scissors?" Sora suggested once Saix had left them to it.

"Which do you want?" Roxas asked.

"Dogs. They don't have evil claws."

Roxas laughed. "I'll take cats. Gimme that clipboard." The boys worked companionably in the kennels, cleaning and feeding the animals and refilling all the water bowls. Saix came to check up on them and nodded with approval.

"Good job. Take a few of the dogs out to the yard and let them play once they've finished eating. Stay in the yard." He warned then left.

Sora frowned. "I get the feeling he really doesn't want us leaving in the yard. Weird huh?"

Roxas shrugged. "Probably thinks we'll lose the dogs in the woods. Or that they'll get hurt."

"Oh that makes sense." Sora said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.

When they took the dogs out into the yard, Xion joined them. "Hey. How you liking your first day?" She giggled and started petting as many of the dogs as she could reach.

Roxas smiled. "Pretty good. It's not that hard."

"It's not now. But once Saix and Vexen let you work with the injured animals it'll get a bit harder." Xion said. "But I wouldn't worry too much. You'll do fine."

When the group went back inside they were met by a tall, thin, blond man and a shorter, slate haired man both in white lab coats.

"These are the new assistants I presume." The blond drawled. "I am Dr. Vexen and this is Zexion. He is doing a residency with us to finish up his veterinary certificate. Please just stay out of our way." He then left, trailing Zexion behind.

"Don't worry. Vexen and Zexion just aren't that social, it's not that they don't like you." Xion reassured after the two had left. "Come on, let's play with the cats now. They need exercise too!"

The next few weeks went much the same way as their first day did. First they would feed and clean the kennels, then exercise the dogs in the yard after being warned again to not stray from the well maintained plot of grass (the boys personally thought Saix was being a broken record, but followed the instruction anyway), then inside to play with the cats and take their lunch break. In the afternoons they helped Xion with paperwork or adopted out the animals.

Soon their afternoons also included helping out with injured animals. Sora was especially good at getting animals to swallow pills, much to the delight of Vexen, who though he was a vet never had as much luck with it as Sora.

Roxas began to hate this part of the job because he always felt so bad for the poor animals who had gotten hurt. He would always mumble some sort of comforting words to the injured animals he cared for and gently pet them when no one was looking.

* * *

After a month something strange happened.

"Morning Xi- mmmph?" Sora blinked as his normal boisterous greeting was silenced by Xion's hand over his mouth.

"Hush! Saix isn't feeling well, so you have to do everything as quietly as you can. And we can't use the break room cause he'll be in there all day." She said quietly. She took her hand off Sora's mouth and handed him the clipboards. "He gets really short-tempered on days like these so don't do anything you aren't supposed to."

"What's wrong with him? And if he's not feeling well then why is he here today?" Roxas asked.

Xion bit her lip. "He'll be ok… This happens a lot- I mean not a lot but every mon- I mean every so often….. It's nothing to be concerned with, honest!" She rambled nervously. "And he's here today because- because- uh. There was an injured dog that came in! Yeah it got hit by a car and Saix had to stay here all night to help it." Xion smiled hopefully at them.

The twins looked at each other then back to Xion. "You're really bad at lying. And you didn't have to make something up to tell us." Sora said.

"Yeah you could've just said it was none of our business." Roxas added.

Xion hung her head. "I know. I'm sorry, but it really isn't something to be concerned with. Just please try to keep quiet today? He'll be better soon."

Sora nodded. "Sure. Well we better get to work. See ya later Xion."

"So what do you think is wrong with Saix?" Sora mused as he and Roxas took the dogs out into the yard.

"Well it can't be too serious or he wouldn't have come in today. But he apparently can't do any work and Xion kinda made it sound like this happens pretty often." Roxas said. "And you know, I noticed a cot in the break room, one of those fold away kinds, I wonder if it's for him to rest on when this happens? Which means he always comes in even if he's not feeling well? But that doesn't make any sense; if anything him being here and not being able to work puts him in the way of things."

"Very good deductive skills Roxas. I wouldn't have thought you had the knack for it."

Roxas scowled as Vexen's sudden appearance made him jump. "Well am I right?" he asked sulkily.

"Yes Saix will still come to the shelter when he has his episodes, but like I am sure Xion told you, it is nothing you boys need to concern yourselves with. This heat, on the other hand, is, and we don't want the animals dehydrating so come along inside and make sure they all have full water bowls."

"Are there other animals who need your attention in the woods?" Sora asked Vexen as they rounded up the dogs.

"What? Why do you ask that?!" Vexen asked.

"Well, you have your doctor's bag with you, and you were heading towards the door so you probably wouldn't have just come out of it."

"It seems Roxas isn't the only one who can make deductions. These woods are part of the sanctuary, meaning it's a safe haven for wild animals. Which is why you shouldn't go back there, you could disturb those creatures who don't relish human contact." Vexen hurriedly swept inside before the twins could question him further.

"You ever get the feeling that they're trying to hide something from us?" Roxas asked wryly.


	3. Chapter 3

AN: Sorry this chapter's a week late, my sister is moving out and its causing a lot of chaos here at home. Anyway, the plot is finally moving a little faster in this chapter! I hope everyone enjoys this one as much as I loved writing it!

Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts belongs to Square Enix and Disney and sadly not to me.

* * *

The boys' suspicions didn't let up. They both admitted that there probably wasn't anything serious going on, but with how the other four were acting it was hard not to come up with ridiculous theories.

"Maybe they're going some kind of illegal genetic research in the woods." Roxas mused on one of their days off.

"But why would they do that sort of stuff in the woods? Wouldn't they need some kind of fancy lab or something?" Sora countered.

"Oh yeah. Well maybe there is one out there?" Roxas was reluctant to let go of his theory.

"You know, we should just go and see what's back there." Sora mused. "I mean what's the worst that could happen?"

"We'd get fired. Or maybe murdered, if we make Saix or Vexen angry enough." Roxas drawled.

"I don't know, I think Xion is the one who would kill us if we pissed her off enough."

"Xion?! No way, she's tiny! And considering we aren't that tall ourselves-"

"We're average for our age! And dude, haven't you seen her hold down those big dogs when Vexen has to sedate them? She's way stronger than she looks."

"Well anyways, if we do try to get in there, we better not get caught." Roxas warned sternly.

"Easy. And we can use the dogs as an excuse if we do get caught. Like one of them ran off and we were going after it."

* * *

The next day the twins put their plan into action. They had just rounded the corner in the hedge fence when they ran smack into the seething figure of Zexion.

"What do you two think you're doing? You are not allowed back here." Zexion snapped.

"Uh a dog ran back here and-" Sora started.

"If that had happened I would have seen the dog Sora. Don't lie to me."

"Zexion, why are you all wet?" Roxas asked, hoping to distract the angry figure in front of them.

"Hey yeah, what'd you do, go swimming? Hey wait- is that a hickey?!" Sora cried, pointing at the purple mark on the older boy's neck.

"W-what, it's nothing!" Zexion countered, reeling back slightly.

"I think you're right Sora, it is a hickey! So who gave it to ya Zexion?" Roxas teased.

"Alright both of you! Get back inside! And keep your mouths shut about this if you know what's good for you!" Zexion snapped, shooing the boys back into the yard.

"Yeah like you could do anything to us." Roxas scoffed.

"I have been to medical school, I can poison you slowly and undetectably and no one could prove it was me." Zexion threatened quietly.

"Could he really?" Sora asked nervously.

Zexion raised his visible eyebrow, silently asking if Sora wanted to put it to the test. The brunette laughed nervously then grabbed his brother.

"Run away!" He cried following his own advice and dragging Roxas behind him.

Once the boys were out of sight Zexion smiled and shook his head. "That boy is almost as bad as that fool Demyx." He muttered to himself, subconsciously rubbing the mark on his neck.

* * *

The twins got the dogs back into their kennel quickly, hoping to avoid Zexion.

"He couldn't really do that Sora. I'm sure." Roxas said confidently. "I'm gonna see if Vexen needs our help, you can finish up here right?" Sora nodded and Roxas went towards the clinic side of the building.

Sora ended up dropping everything when he heard his brother scream.

* * *

Roxas hurried to the other side of the building, hoping that Sora wouldn't try any stunts to get into the restricted woods again today. His twin could be annoyingly persistent sometimes. He pushed the door to the clinic open. "Hey Vexen? Is there anything you need help with? Huh?" Roxas blinked, his vision having gone blurry momentarily. When it cleared the first thing Roxas noticed was the huge red lizard on the exam table. The gigantic lizard who was hissing at Roxas threateningly.

Roxas held up his hands in front of him and began to back away. "Ok lizard, I'm going now. Just calm down- AAAAHHHHHHH!"

Roxas screamed as the lizard leapt off the table and knocked him to the floor. He stared up at the face of the lizard, certain at any moment that he would have his throat torn out and would be eaten by this creature from hell that had somehow broken into the clinic and eaten Vexen.

"Axel no! Get off him!" The lizard was hauled off the terrified blond by Saix, Vexen, and Zexion. Sora and Xion showed up and helped Roxas to his feet.

"Are you ok Roxas?" Xion asked worriedly. The boy nodded slowly, eyes still glued to the menacing lizard.

"Whoa! What is that?! It's HUGE!" Sora asked, amazed by the lizard now that Roxas was safe.

"This is Axel. He's a very rare breed of lizard that was injured in a crash. He's very irritated and in pain right now which is why he pounced on Roxas" Vexen explained. The three men struggled to get Axel into a cage before turning back to the kids.

"You're bleeding Roxas. We better get that cleaned up." Zexion pointed out. Roxas looked down and noticed the tears in his shirt that were now getting dark with blood. The pain finally registered at the sight of the wounds.

"That thing isn't poisonous is it?" He asked. The "thing" in question lashed out and hissed, making the large crate rock from side to side.

"We don't think he is no."Vexen answered, getting out bandages and disinfectant. "If you die we'll know for sure."

"Oh thanks." The teen grumped, pulling off his torn shirt so the doctor could patch him up.

* * *

The next day Roxas had to go back into the clinic and give pills to the cats and dogs. He peeked in nervously to check that the monster was still in its cage. At the sight of the blond Axel hissed, his tail lashing angrily against the side of the cage. Roxas scurried in and gave the injured pets their medicine. After he finished with them he hesitantly approached the cage Axel was in.

"Hey it's ok. Don't worry I'm not going to hurt you." Roxas whispered. He kneeled on the floor and scooted closer, keeping far enough away that the lizard couldn't hurt him. "Hey. It's ok about before. I know you didn't mean to hurt me. You're just scared, and you're hurt. But it's gonna be ok, we're gonna help you. Promise."

As Roxas talked to the big lizard, Axel seemed to calm down. He stared at Roxas through his slit green eyes, as if studying the boy. Now that Axel was still, Roxas could see that there was a swath of bandages wrapped around the lizard's middle. Poking out from the top of the bandages were hard red-orange spines that ran down the animal's back. The claws that had ripped through Roxas's shirt and sliced his skin so cleanly that it barely hurt were a dullish silver, like some sort of metal. And there were some odd purple scales under his eyes.

"You know, you look odd even for a lizard. There's no way you would be camouflaged in the wild. But I guess with claws like those you can hold your own in a fight." Roxas laughed when Axel lashed his tail like a grumpy cat. "I guess for a huge, and possibly man-eating, lizard you aren't that bad. And like I said, I promise we'll fix you up and get you home in no time." The blond smiled. "Well, I've got to go home now. See you tomorrow Axel."

Once Roxas left the clinic, Vexen stepped out of the shadows he had been standing in, listening to Roxas talk to the lizard.

"I wouldn't have expected him to have forgiven you so quickly Axel." The blond drawled.

"He's not a bad kid. And hey, I haven't eaten a human in at least four hundred years." The lizard replied. He climbed up onto the exam table after Vexen opened the door of the cage. "You sure you can't give me anything for the pain? I might not have lashed out if it didn't hurt so much."

"I told you, if we gave you enough pain medication, then we'd have the DEA come snooping trying to figure out how we used up a two month supply in one go." Vexen snapped. He unwrapped the bandages and frowned at the wounds underneath. "It's not looking very good Axel. The necrosis is spreading and if it doesn't stop soon, then amp-"

"NO! You heard the kid he promised you'd fix it, so FIX IT!" Axel growled.

Vexen nodded. "Very well. I'll see what some colleagues think would be the best course of action and we'll start on that tomorrow." He cleaned the wounds and wrapped them with clean bandages. "You stay in here tonight again of course."

Axel groaned. "All the other creatures in here are frightened of me. At least bring in the elfling so I can have some interesting conversation."

"He cannot come in here with so much steel around. Even asking him to do so would be an insult considering his injuries."

Axel groaned again then went back into the cage and made himself comfortable. "Maybe you should ask that kid to stay the night with me. I like him well enough."

"And what would Roxas do? You cannot let him, or his brother know the truth of this place!"

"I know, I know! Jeeze, just go away and let me sleep would you?" Axel snapped. As Vexen cleaned up and left Axel wondered if there was a way to help those kids figure it all out without directly telling them or leading them out to the woods. He grinned and started to plan just how he'd do so.

* * *

Sora groaned as, yet again, the alarm clock hit the wall. "I think you're starting to leave a dent in the wall Rox." He mumbled sleepily.

Roxas just got up and stomped to the bathroom for his shower. Sora sat up and scratched his head. His twin was prone to moodiness, but not like this. Roxas never let his moods affect Sora. He wondered if it had something to do with being attacked at work last week.

"Hey Roxas? Are you ok?" He asked, meeting back up with his twin for breakfast. Roxas merely shrugged.

"Sorry Sora I don't know what's gotten into me. I'm just upset about Axel I guess. He's still cooped up in that cage and I can tell he's not comfortable."

"Roxas- Axel tried to eat you." Sora pointed out.

"No he didn't he was just freaked out!"

"So do you want to quit so you won't have to deal with that stuff anymore?"

Roxas froze. He hadn't even thought about that. He felt he couldn't quit, that he had to help Axel and all the other animals at the sanctuary.

"Nah. Come on, we better get going so we aren't late."

"I think we should try getting into those woods again today." Sora announced as the walked out the door.

"Sora we've already been caught once-"

"And nothing happened! Come on, how about you distract Saix and the others and I'll run back there and see what's up."

"Sora-"

"Its foolproof!" Sora charged on ahead, not giving Roxas time to argue.

* * *

Sora put his plan into action when Roxas was asked to help Saix with unloading the weekly food supply. Once he knew no one was looking he hurried out the door and around the hedge into the forest. Once he walked down a dirt trail a short ways he came to a large open clearing.

"Whoa. This place is amazing!" Sora cried, taking it all in. Closest to him, just off the path was a large bed of beautiful flowers. Past that was a stream that meandered across the clearing into a sizable pond surrounded by flat rocks. Past the pond was a small copse of slivery trees that Sora could see a hammock hanging in. There were some more rocks on the far side of the clearing, surrounded by grass. It was a paradise. Sora slowly walked further into the clearing, wanting to explore. He had just crossed the stream when he heard hoof beats behind him. He turned, and gasped, coming face-to-face with the end of a spear. His eyes widened when he saw what was holding the lance.

"No way. Rox is never gonna believe this."

* * *

AN: Well I tried to leave this with a cliffhanger. Maybe it seems like its less dramatic to me cause I know what happens next. I've even got a start on writing it so hopefully next week's chapter will be on time!


	4. Chapter 4

Hi everyone. I'm so sorry it took me so long to churn out this chapter. But this chapter is dedicated to my best friend Valeera. She recently went away to college and I really miss her. So here's to you hun, and I hope you love it (sorry, still no Zemyx highjinks, I promise it'll be in the next chapter).

Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts belongs to Square Enix and Disney

* * *

Roxas sighed as the last of the heavy bags of food was dropped onto the pile. Saix nodded his thanks to him. "Good job Roxas."

Both were taken by surprise when the door slammed open.

"Sora's in trouble! In the forest!" Xion cried.

* * *

"Who are you? Why have you come here?" Asked one of the - creatures surrounding Sora. _Centaurs_ a far corner of his brain supplied. There were five of them and four were pointing weapons at Sora. The one who wasn't was a grey haired man with yellow eyes.

"Why are you here?" The grey haired man- centaur asked again, more forcefully than before.

"I just wanted to know what's back here! I'll leave now!" Sora yelped as the black haired one jabbed him with the spear.

"You won't be going anywhere kid." One of them snapped.

"Hey leave him alone you stupid horses!" Someone cried, a wet rock sailing past.

The one with a crossbow reared and whirled around. "Come here and say that to my face you overgrown fish!"

"Xigbar, ignore the merman." Ordered the grey.

While the centaurs were distracted by whoever it was in the pond, someone grabbed Sora and pulled him away from danger.

"Quiet. Stay hidden." The savior ordered before slipping away, leaving Sora lying under some of the flowering bushes surrounding the flower bed.

"Hey! Where did the boy go?!" Yelled one of the centaurs. Sora tried to make himself as small as possible hoping they wouldn't notice him. They didn't, and Sora listened to their hoofbeats fade away as they ran into the trees.

"Hmph. You're crushing my violets." A voice complained above him. Sora sat up quickly, going face first into a large bloom, knocking it off the bush.

"Hey! Stop killing my flowers brat!" Yelled the pink haired man Sora was now facing. He wore what looked like leaves and flower petals stitched together and had sparkly translucent pink insect wings.

"Uh-" Sora stared, sure now that he was losing his mind. Centaurs and fairies don't exist his mind was screaming at him, scrambling to come up with a logical explanation for what he was seeing.

"What are you, stupid? Get off of my flowers!"

Sora hopped up, wincing when he heard a plant crunch under his foot. The pink haired man flinched as if it physically hurt him.

"Sorry. I-I didn't mean to." Sora apologized.

"Sora!"

The brunet turned to look and saw the entire staff of Nobody's Heartless Animal Sanctuary running towards him. Well, it looked more like Xion, Saix, and Roxas were running towards him, and Vexen and Zexion were chasing Roxas.

"Sora. I'd step out of those flowers if I were you. Carefully." Saix said, watching the pink haired fairy closely.

"I saw you surrounded by the centaurs, how did you get away?!" Asked Xion, hugging him tightly when he was out of the flower bed.

Roxas had stopped and was now gaping at the fairy.

"Remarkable. Both your new assistants are idiots. Congratulations Saix. Make sure they don't kill anymore of my flowers." The pink haired man said, before disappearing in a puff of rose petals and gold sparkles.

Saix rounded on Sora. "What were you thinking?! You have been expressly told multiple times NOT to come back here!" He roared, seething. "You could've gotten yourself killed Sora! Go home before you cause any more trouble."

"What was that thing?" Roxas was still staring at the spot where the fairy had disappeared. He had seemingly not heard a word of Saix's tirade.

Xion glanced at Saix before answering Roxas. "That was Marluxia, our resident flower fairy. Nobody's Heartless doesn't just help normal everyday animals. There are fey creatures who have gotten hurt or lost their homes who come here and we look after them. But they don't like humans too much, which is why we were trying to keep you guys from coming back here."

Roxas shook his head. "But- Those things don't really exist!"

"Hey! Don't be rude! I do too exist!" called a voice from across the clearing. A dirty blond man was lounging on a rock lining the pond. He grinned at the twins. "I'm Demyx! Nice to meet you!"

Zexion glared at Demyx. "Be quiet. These two are in trouble."

Sora rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "I'm really sorry. I was just curious."

Saix huffed. "You two can both go home now." He ordered before stalking off.

* * *

Sora and Roxas trudged into their home and fell into the couch.

"I'm sorry Roxas. I didn't mean to get us fired." Sora apologized sadly.

"He never actually said we were fired." Roxas pointed out.

Sora snorted and got up, stalking into the kitchen and getting out a tub of ice cream and two spoons. "Let's just drown our sorrows in Cherry Garcia Rox."

Roxas snorted and took his spoon. "Fine."

* * *

Axel was lashing his tail against the bars of the cage when Vexen entered. "What's going on out there?"

"The twins saw the hidden sanctuary." Vexen replied shortly.

"Seriously?! No fair, I wanted to show it off." Axel groused. He grinned at the icy look Vexen tossed his way.

"We don't know yet if they could be trustworthy. But now that they've seen it, I doubt we can send them away." Vexen mused, opening the cage door.

Axel slithered up on to the exam table. "_I_ like the blond one. I think he's trustworthy." Axel hissed as Vexen removed the dirty bandages. A rank smell filled the room, the scent of rot and decay. Axel squirmed. "Any better doc?" He already knew the answer.

Vexen started to clean the wound the best he could. "A colleague suggested trying an acidic solution. Apparently it was a treatment used around the time of the Second World War, with limited success. There are risks of-"

"Just do it. I don't care about any risks. Just fix this doc." Axel snarled.

"Very well."

* * *

The alarm clock hit the wall and yet the evil noise didn't stop.  
"I think it's a phone." Mumbled Sora.

"What do you want?" Roxas grumbled, locating his ringing cell phone.

The person on the other end giggled. "Good morning to you too Roxas. I just wanted to let you know that Saix decided not to fire you guys. And you're gonna be late if you don't get here in twenty minutes."

Roxas launched out of bed. "We'll be there! Sora get your ass outta bed! We're gonna be late!"

* * *

Yawning the boys stood before Saix, who still didn't look very forgiving. "Since there is no longer any point in hiding the sanctuary from you two any longer, you will start helping out in that area too. But, you cannot go into the sanctuary alone. You must be supervised by myself, Vexen, or Zexion at all times. Is that understood?"

Both nodded.

"Good. Now Roxas go feed the animals and Sora you shall accompany Zexion to the sanctuary. And don't upset Marluxia anymore please. He's annoying enough as it is."

* * *

Roxas sighed happily as he entered the kennels. He was a bit reluctant to explore the insane, unimaginable clearing hidden away in the woods. He never liked the fairy stories their mother would read to them, because he could all too well imagine horrible curses like being put to sleep for one hundred years and suffering from having razor sharp jewels fall through his lips at every word. Could those creatures do that sort of thing? His brain began to remind him of the other terrifying tales that haunted him as a child. Of mermaids dragging sailors down to their deaths, and fairies making people dance to until they died of exhaustion. He shook his head, not wanting to follow that train of thought. Sora was helped by at least two of those creatures, they couldn't be all bad.

"Hey there Roxas. Nice to finally talk to ya."  
Roxas jumped and looked up. Leaning against the exam table was a tall, skinny man with a mane of red, spiky hair. Under his eyes were upside down purple triangles.

"Who are you?!" Roxas cried, nervous around the stranger. How did the man know his name?

"Don't tell me you've forgotten me already." The stranger cried dramatically. "It's Axel, A-X-E-L."

* * *

Sora was excited to go back into the clearing. He had always dreamed of having big adventures. "So what are we doing today Zexion?"

"Just distributing any medications that the patients need. Not all the creatures here need medical attention; some have no homes left to return to. Like the centaurs you ran afoul of. Their leader was ill and came here for help, but while they were gone their forest was destroyed and a housing development built on the land. So, since here they are safe and get food and care they decided it was better to stay rather than hunt for a new home."

Sora nodded. He wondered who had helped him hide from the centaurs and why he was here.

He froze suddenly, realizing he had lost Zexion. One second the slate haired boy had been there, the next he was gone. "Z-Zexion?" he called softly, hoping not to draw any attention to himself.

"Do I need to save your butt again?" called a voice behind him teasingly. Sora whirled around. "Who are you?"

The voice belonged to a tall, pale boy with silvery hair. He had bandages wrapped around his eyes. He grinned. "My name is Riku. You're Sora, right?"

* * *

AN: I feel like Sora had a few out of character moments in this chapter. But I hoped everyone enjoyed this chapter! Also, I'm not 100% positive that the procedure mentioned by Vexen in this chapter is real, but I saw it in a movie once, and it sound plausible enough to me. I mean, there's already mermaids, centaurs, and fairies in this story so a little medical inaccuracy can't hurt, right?


End file.
